I would say they are aware - they must be if they can react and respond. But am certain that they are constructs of our minds and that is about it. Next time you are confronted by one try asking to see them as they really are - keen to know what they turn into as I have had a few surprises when doing this.

Who are you I asked, the reply "dont be silly, we are your daughers" many years before they were born

They kind of always have in my case, even to the point where I had to contend with two of them representing my friends on whether we were in a dream or not...I ended up winning the argument (while being non lucid)...but still, it's funny XD

Some dream figures appear to be more aware than others. I've experienced a few lucid dream figures that seem to be so autonomous, and a part from me; I wonder how they can merely be projections of my subconscious mind? I work on the basis that dream figures are a projection of my subconscious mind but I have also adopted the belief that on rare occasion my subconscious mind links me to dream figures/projections that are part of the universal mind or, as Napoleon Hill refers to it ‘infinite intelligence’.

its also a bit like asking if you SC has awareness, do you create your SC and use it like a friend and if so does that make it aware or do you imagine your SC and give it a charactor and if so is it any less aware or is your SC another part of you or is your SC seperate from you but exists within you, and so it goes on

Who are you I asked, the reply "dont be silly, we are your daughers" many years before they were born

this post reminds me of the movie 'waking life' where a dream character became self aware.. its a cool thought to think that its possible but i have a hard time with it. i dont dismiss it though. hey, maybe dreams are a way of entering a parallel universe

I have like one proof that Dream Characters isn't aware or concious. A lot of people tend when they in dreams, tell other dream characters that they are in a dream, the dream characters become angry. As humans with conciousness, we would first question ourselfs, and try to look for signs of this being a dream. We would then laugh, and might ask for a reason to why believing so, and later start to speculate before really getting mad, and start to say that it isn't a dream. So I don't believe they can develope conciousness. Conciousness comes from electric streams in the brain between cells. That isn't in dreams

"If I only could see you in my dreams, I would sleep all the time!" <3